Inflation is the increase in the prices of goods and services across an economy. When prices inflate, you need more money to buy the same things. The opposite of inflation is deflation, when prices are lower across a range of goods and services.
James Howell, a 17th century historian cum writer was the first writer to earn his living from writing alone in the English language; other writers of those times pursued writing as a hobby, not a profession as writing alone never paid enough.
There isn't consensus, as the answer depends on the definition of a novel, but Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders are mentioned multiple times as the first fiction novels in Western Literary tradition. However, The Tale of Genji from Japan predates them all.